This installment of the Card of the Week (or not quite a week) features the 1975 Topps Harmon Killebrew card, number 640 in the set. The 1975 Topps set was noted for it's two color frame around the photos, a radically different look than the previous sets had. It was almost as though Topps was trying to cash in on having drugged up people look at the card borders and have strange trips.
The reason for the card, and Killebrew in particular, is actually a melancholy one. This card was actually the final card produced by Topps during his playing career, and it feels like a fitting tribute to this great player. Killebrew, as some of you may not have heard, was battling esophageal cancer. Now, at age 74, he has decided to end his battle, and is settling into hospice care to live out the rest of his days.
Killebrew, even when looking at the inflated numbers of the steroid era, still rates as one of the top sluggers in baseball history. His 573 home runs ranks 11th on the all-time list, just behind Mark McGwire. His eight seasons with 40 or more home runs is second all-time, trailing only Babe Ruth. He also made 11 All-Star games, and won an MVP award in 1969.
Killebrew was known as a humble, gentle person, whose nickname of 'Killer' was the furthest possible from his way of being. When asked about his nickname once, Killebrew said "I didn't have evil intentions, but I guess I did have power." With 573 career homers, there is no guesswork as to how much power he truly had.
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